Crocodile, alligator, or pincer electrical direct contact clips have long been used to establish electrical contacts for coupling electrical current signals in electrical circuits and between electronic devices such as utility locating transmitters and electrical conductors. Such clips are often spring loaded and have serrated jaws for gripping and holding onto a target conductive object. For example, automotive jumper cables generally employ two pairs of serrated jaw clips connected to thick wires to transfer large electrical currents from one battery's terminals to a discharged battery's terminals. Likewise, electrical testing equipment often uses smaller clips to establish a non-permanent electrical connection to target electronics being tested for continuity, voltage, and the like. Such clips are limited in configurability for a single, specific use.
In these applications, such as jump starting a car or testing electronics, existing clips are well suited due to the limited conditions and ways in which the clips need to attach to their target and/or the limited range of size of the target's connection point or terminal. However, in other applications, such as in buried utility locate operations, establishing a direct electrical connection may be difficult due to variability in conditions under which the connection needs to be made. For example, targeted utilities come in various diameters and shapes, utilities may be covered in dirt, paint, rust, or other coatings, the utility may be located in a difficult to reach place, and so on.
In the utility locating field, various clip devices are used in combination with utility locating transmitters (also denoted herein as a “utility transmitter” or “transmitter” for brevity) to couple output current signals generated by the transmitter to a targeted utility. Another type of device, commonly known as an inductive clamp, couples current signals from a transmitter to a utility or other conductor inductively, without the need for a direct physical contact. In either case, the coupled current signals then radiate corresponding magnetic fields. The magnetic fields may then be received and processed by a magnetic field sensing utility locator (also referred to herein as “utility locator” or “locator” for brevity) to determine the location, depth, relative position, current magnitude and/or phase, and/or other information about the utility or other conductor.
In general, practitioners of the art refer to a “clip” as a device used to electrically couple signals through direct conductor to conductor contact, whereas a “clamp” couples signals without direct contact (e.g., through inductive or in some case capacitive coupling). In many utility locating operations a direct conductor to conductor connection provided by a clip is preferable for coupling the signal to a target utility if the conductive path has low resistance (e.g., by providing better strength of magnetic field signals due to higher current, improved isolation of the utility line at the locator, etc.). However, clamps can be useful when no direct connection is available, such as for utilities entirely buried underground, by using AC electromagnetic fields to induce current flow into the target conductor.
As noted above, existing utility locating clips are typically simple alligator or pincer clips, similar to what is used in other electrical connection applications. They are limited in configurability for use, have a limited range of diameters onto which they can secure, are limited to utility lines or other targets of limited size and shape (such as those within arm's reach of a user), and lack any additional functionality beyond simply transferring current onto the target utility through direct electrical connection.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art to address the above-described as well as other problems.